China’s manufacturing activity rises in July – HSBC

24 July 2012 05:35[Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--China’s manufacturing activity – as measured by the HSBC flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – rose to its highest level since February, but remained at a contraction for a ninth straight month in July, UK-based banking firm HSBC said on Thursday.

The preliminary PMI rose to 49.5 in July from 48.2 in June, driven by the jump in the output sub-index, HSBC said in a statement.

A figure above 50 indicates an expansion, while a figure below 50 represents a contraction.

“July's headline PMI picked up modestly to a five-month high of 49.5, suggesting that the earlier easing measures are starting to work,” HSBC’s chief China economist, Hongbin Qu, said.

However, the reading in July implies that demand still remains weak and this calls for additional easing efforts to support growth and jobs, Qu said.

Both the new orders and new export sub-indexes contracted in June, according to the HSBC report.

“We believe the fast falling inflation allows ?xml:namespace>Beijing to do so and a more meaningful improvement of growth is expected in the coming months when these measures fully filter through,” Qu added.